Journal article
Opinion leaders and complex sustainability issues
Management of Environmental Quality, Vol.21(2), pp.187-197
2010
Abstract
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to identify mechanisms and strategies involved in individual and local responses to complex global sustainability issues such as climate change. Design/methodology/approach - This paper describes an innovative approach to understanding the role of informal leadership and its utility in influencing societal attitudes and practice. The approach builds on theories of diffusion in which learning about new ideas, practices or technologies occurs through interpersonal communication with informal opinion leaders. It draws on findings from studies in other fields of social research, such as community health, development aid, and agriculture, in which the engagement of opinion leaders has been found to speed up the spread of responsive behaviours. The approach also analyses linkages between the concepts of response capacity to climate change and social capital with the strategies of opinion leaders for influencing societal change through informal social networks. Findings - Research related to social change in response to climate change has focused predominantly on the need for reform at the public policy and institutional level, and at the other extreme, on individual behaviour change. The role of leaders has been cited as an important component of social change in case studies of adaptive management of natural resources, sustainability studies, and in research on social capital. Originality/value - Development of the approach will contribute to the understanding of social mechanisms and processes involved in community engagement with complex problems and more specifically, response capacity for climate change at the regional level."
Details
- Title
- Opinion leaders and complex sustainability issues
- Authors
- Noni Keys (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health and EducationDana C Thomsen (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health and EducationTimothy F Smith (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health and Education
- Publication details
- Management of Environmental Quality, Vol.21(2), pp.187-197
- Publisher
- Emerald Group Publishing Ltd.
- Date published
- 2010
- DOI
- 10.1108/14777831011025535
- ISSN
- 1477-7835
- Organisation Unit
- School of Tertiary Access - Legacy; School of Education and Tertiary Access; School of Social Sciences - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Law and Society; Sustainability Research Cluster
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99449619002621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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